Breadfish - no, they would not be doing I/V antibiotics in the home. They would offer oral antibiotics. But that option was available to the E.R. doctor, when I brought him to the hospital. It was the E.R. that determined he was too sick to be sent home with just an oral prescription. The E.R. admits when it looks like "the big guns" are needed. That means I/V hydration and I/V medication, along with frequent blood draws for labs to check the body's response to the therapy (like white blood cell count.) I/V sites do have to be watched and changed, often at unexpected times. The patient has to be monitored for sepsis and infection getting into the blood stream. Oxygen level has to be monitored.

The lay public often does not know certain realities. The reason why Medicare is happy to pay for hospice is to reduce the cost of end of life care. It is not intended to be just like hospital care, only at home. It is intended to be less expensive for the government and the insurance companies. That is the reality.

The hospice "contract" requires the patient and family to sign away their right to go to an emergency room. Instead, they must refer that decision to the hospice nurse. That nurse works for an agency selling the hospice service. The agency has a powerful financial incentive to discourage patients going to the hospital. (They may lose a lot of money, if the patient does. That's because the hospital may end up billing the hospice agency for the E.R. service and the admission. Medicare sets it up, so that can potentially happen.) You have to understand what agenda is driving each provider. That basically comes down to issues of money.